1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices for removing moisture from musical instruments, more particularly to devices for removing and separating moisture accumulated in the interior passage and valve pads of woodwind musical instruments such as flute, clarinet, saxophone, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
While a player is breathing into a woodwind musical instrument, the column of air vibrates inside of the instrument, and the vibration is radiated from the instrument as sounds. However, the breath is warm and wet, containing water vapor which tends to condense onto the interior passage including the inner walls and valve pads of the woodwind instrument. The valve pads are made of soft material such as leather. When moisture is not promptly removed, the pads tend to harden and change their original shape. The leaking problems develop thereafter and the tone is distorted. Eventually the pads need be replaced to restore the instrument's function.
To prevent the problem caused by the moisture, proper removing the moisture accumulated in the interior passage of the instrument is required after playing. Many woodwind musical instruments are made up with a number of sections. Each section must be properly de-moisturized individually. Traditionally a pull through swab or fabric is used to wipe the moisture off the interior passage of each section of the instrument. There a number of different prior art swabs disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,730,785, 6,005,179, 3,739,420, 5,212,332 and 5,829,088. However, using swab can only remove a portion of moisture condensed on the inner walls of the instrument. The same problem can still develop from the remaining moisture on the inner wall as well as the moisture in the valve pads. The damped swab is usually stored along with the instrument in an air-tight carrying case. This creates another source for the valve pads to develop problem, since the damped swab contains all the moisture just removed from the instrument may be able to transfer back inside the carrying case.
There exists another de-moisturizing device called demoisturizer as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,504. The demoisturizer is used to absorb remaining moisture from the inner walls and from the valve pads. The common method for using the demoisturizer is to insert the device into the section of the instrument to be de-moisturized, and left both instrument and the demoisturizer in an air-tight carrying case. Again, the moisture may be able to transfer back to the instrument inside the carrying case. It is therefore a need for de-moisturizing devices to remove moisture more effectively and to separate the moisture from the instrument.